A GREAT IRISHMAN » 11 Sep 1926 » The Spectator Archive: The Lite of J. D. Bourchier. By Lady Grogan. (Hurst and Blackett. 18s. net.) To describe or criticize adequately the life of James Bourchier would entail a full discussion of Balkan politics through thirty exciting years. This scholarly Irishman and Eton

Sunday, 27 August 2017

The Gardaí in the 1920s – A Troubled Beginning: By Colm Wallace, whose new book The Fallen details Gardaí who lost their lives in the line of duty. The Gardaí have faced several periods in their history in which the safety of individual m…

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

The Minority Voice: 'How do such people, with brilliant members and dull ones, fare when they pass from being a dominant minority to being a powerless one?' So asked the Kilkenny man-of-letters Hubert Butler (1900-1991) when considering the fate of Southern Protestants after Irish Independence. As both a product and critic of this culture, Butler posed the question repeatedly, refusing to accept as inevitable the marginalization of his community within the newly established state.

Saturday, 5 August 2017

No worker, in any land or sector, should ever be instantly fired with NO prior hearing. That is a fundamental principle and an issue of strict Natural Justice and Due Process, and it is also recognized by Irish Courts as a binding duty on ANY employer [ including Govt ] under the rights inherent in the Irish Constitution. Yet the London Editor of the Sunday Times Martin Ivers has now done so - last Sunday - with a columnist for their Irish edition, Kevin Myers. The instant dismissal was even broadcast on British Media before Myers was even told.

A few lines in this one column [ now recognized by Myers himself as ill-judged ] were referenced by London - both the founding Chair of the Irish Holocaust Memorial Cte [ Ollie Donohoe - a former Radio Producer and then a trade union official ] and the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland have declared that in their judgement and experience, Myers is certainly no Anti-Semite. Indeed I and anybody in Ireland knows well how consistent and forceful he has always been in defending the Jewish People, as well as the right of the UN-mandated State of Israel to exist, and to do so in peace and security - like any other State.

I now have 2 choices. Either -
{A} continue to buy this paper as I have done every Sunday all my adult life, and so now collude with this London Editor in this grave wrong, or else
{B} no longer buy it and thereby refuse to collaborate in this fundamental violation of this universal and fundamental right of ANY worker.

I know where I stand, and where I have always stood.

Arbitrary power belongs to Absolute Monarchs - not to Employers in 2017.
And certainly not to London Employers over Irish workers.

This is a war - launched by the London Editor and no Irish person should surrender. This defensive and necessary struggle has nothing to do with Myers himself. I will miss this paper but not as much as I would miss the right to a fair hearing for ANY worker prior to dismissal.